On the outbreak of the
Second World War in September 1939, Barwell was called up for service with the RAF. He went to
No. 2 Flying Training School at
Brize Norton for the final stages of his training and was
commissioned as a
pilot officer on probation. He was then posted to
No. 266 Squadron, which was equipped with
Supermarine Spitfire fighters and based at
Sutton Bridge. However his older brother Philip was a
wing commander at Sutton Bridge and it was decided to send Eric elsewhere. He was duly posted to
No. 264 Squadron. This was a newly formed unit that was stationed at
RAF Martlesham Heath and working up with the new
Boulton Paul Defiant turret fighter. Lacking experience on the type, Barwell was sent to No. 12 Group Fighter Pool at
Aston Down for familiarisation with the aircraft. It was not until February 1940 that he returned to No. 264 Squadron. By this time the squadron had largely overcome the initial issues it had experienced with the Defiant and the following month it became operational, doing patrol work.
Battle of France fighter; Barwell stands third right while the commanding officer,
Philip Hunter, stands third left From mid-May, No. 264 Squadron began flying sorties from
Manston to France, patrolling between
Dunkirk and
Boulogne. Initially, it saw considerable success as
Luftwaffe fighters would seek to engage the Defiants from the rear, misidentifying the type as a
Hawker Hurricane fighter and coming into the range of the turret gunner's armament. In its first major engagement on 27 May, six Luftwaffe fighters were destroyed. Two days later, the squadron made two afternoon sorties to Dunkirk, from where the
British Expeditionary Force was being evacuated; in the first, Barwell and his gunner, Pilot Officer J. Williams, destroyed a
Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighter. In the second, they shot down two
Junkers Ju 87 dive bombers. These were three of 37 Luftwaffe aircraft to be claimed as destroyed by No. 264 Squadron that day. On 29 May, Barwell and Williams combined to shoot down a Bf 109 off Dunkirk. On a subsequent sortie the same day, they destroyed a
Heinkel He 111 medium bomber but the engine of their Defiant was damaged in the engagement. Barwell flew the Defiant, which was losing its
engine coolant, close to the English coast, eventually coming down in the
English Channel about from
Dover. This was the first time a Defiant had attempted to ditch in the sea. Barwell and Williams were rescued by the
Royal Navy destroyer HMS Malcolm. In February, he was awarded the
Distinguished Flying Cross, by which time he was married to Ruth , an officer in the
Women's Auxiliary Air Force. The couple would have at least one child. No. 264 Squadron soon began to make successful interceptions and on the night of 10 April, Barwell, still with paired with Martin, shot down one He 111 over
Beachy Head and probably destroyed a second in the same area. The latter may have been damaged from an earlier engagement with another RAF night fighter. In July, Barwell was posted away to
No. 125 Squadron as a
flight lieutenant. In April 1943 Barwell returned to No. 125 Squadron to resume command of one of its flights. Barwell spent the final weeks of the war as the
wing leader at
No. 145 Wing. Barwell ended the war credited with having shot down nine aircraft and one V-1 flying bomb. He is also credited with one aircraft probably destroyed and one damaged. ==Later life==